Zenato Amarone delle Valpolicella Classico DOCG

Description

Zenato Amarone Classico DOCG, or Amarone della Valpolicella to give it its full name, is a red wine from the Veneto region made from dried grapes and is now considered to be one of the benchmarks for Amarone wines.

Cantine Zenato was established in 1960 by Sergio Zenato and his wife, Carla. The Zenato wine cellars are located at San Benedetto di Lugana, in the heart of the Lugana region, on Lake Garda. The Zenato winery now consists of 75 hectares in total, 40 hectares in San Benedetto and 35 hectares in the Valpolicella Classico region at Sant’Ambrogio. As well as Amarone, they also produce some other fantastic red wines, including Zenato Bardolino and Zenato Ripassa, and some very clean white wines like their Pinot Grigio and Lugana. Today the winery is in the capable hands of Sergio’s children, Alberto and Nadia, who have clearly inherited their father’s talents and wine-making passion.

Zenato Amarone delle Valpolicella Classico DOCG is a made from a blend of 80% Corvina, 10% Rondinella and 10% Oseleta and Croatina. It is produced at Zenato’s  Costalunga Estate. The grapes come from vineyards in the Valpolicella Classico zone, in the communes of Sant’Ambrogio, Negrar, Pedemonte, Fumane, San Pietro in Cariano and Marano. After being picked into small, 2.5 kg trays, the grapes are manually sorted and placed on drying racks for 3 to 4 months in dry, well-ventilated rooms. In January they are finally crushed, then very slowly fermented on the skins 15 to 21 days; the wine goes into 300-litre French barrels and Slavonian oak barrels for maturation. The wine is aged for 36 months before bottling.

Zenato Amarone is should be decanted and left to breathe well in advance of serving.